Feather-picking apparatus for fowls and the like



G. R. HUNT Oct. 27, 1942.

FEATHER-PICKING APPARATUS FOR FOWL AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 16, 1939 INVENTOR Gav/245 R. HUNT 2 ATTORNEYS G. R. HUNT 2,300,157FEATHER-PICKING AFIARATUS FOR FOWL AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledNov. 16, 1939 lNvsNfi'oi GEORGE R. HUNT ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 27, 19422,300,157 FEATHER-PICKIN G APPARATUS FOR FOWLS ANDTHE George E. Hunt,Akron, Ohio Application November 16, 1939, Serial No. 304,752 19 Claims.(Cl. 1711.1)

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for picking feathersfrom fowls and the like, and more particularly it relates to theprovision of novel fingers for use in removing the feathers.

An object of the invention is to provide a feather picking apparatuswhich is efiicient, simple in operation, inexpensive to manufacture andmaintain, and which will remove all of the feathers, including pinfeathers, hair, etc., from a fowl in a minimum of time with but littleeffort on the part of the operator.

Another object is to provide a driven roller or drum having a pluralityof flexible fingers extending from the outer periphery thereof at anangle which will most effectively permit said fingers to strip feathersfrom a fowl.

A further object is to provide a plurality of flexible fingers eachhaving corrugations or threads thereon, arranged so as to present aplurality of projections on each finger to engage a fowl and strip thefeathers therefrom.

A further object is to provide a novel flexible finger having a taperedlongitudinal opening therein, a flange on the outer end of said finger,and a plurality of corrugations extending around the body portion of thefinger throughout the greater portion of its length.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a section taken substantially on line ll of Fig. 2 with someparts shown in elevation and others broken away,

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with someparts shown in elevation and with the fingers shown in perspective, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a a portion of the drum withfingers extending therefrom.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I0 designates the body of theapparatus which is supported on a plurality of legs II in any suitableor desired manner. The body I0 is formed with a substantially centralopening l2 which curves downwardly at its front side as shown at l3,while the rear side I4 preferably extends straight downwardly, thusforming a bottom opening l5 of smaller size than opening l2.

Inside the body portion ID, a bracket or shelf l6 supports aconventional electric motor I! adapted to be driven from a suitablesource (not shown). At the rear and on top of the body I0,

a hood or shield I8 is arranged so as to catch feathers removed from afowl and direct them to the bottom of the apparatus. A water pipe I9extends from a source (not shown), upwardly along the side of theapparatus andis brought downwardly through the hood l8 as indicated at20 to provide a means to spray water when desired. A valve 2| may beutilized to control the water supply.

Rotatably mounted in the body I0 is a shaft 22 having its ends mountedin suitable bearings 23 carried by body I0. Shaft 22 extends across andis arranged a slight distance below the top of opening l2. This shaftcarries a preferably hollow roller or drum 24 which is fixedly securedthereto in any suitable manner for rotation with the shaft. As shown,each side of drum 24 is provided with a hub 25 which may be utilized forsecuring the drum to the shaft. Between one of the hub portions 25 andone of the bearings 23, a pulley 26 is also fixedly secured to shaft 22.Pulley 26 is preferably of the V-type and receives a V-belt 21 whichextends around a smaller V-pulley 28 secured to shaft 29 of motor l1.Thus, whenever motor I! is in operation, drum 24 will be, rotatedthrough the means provided therefor.

As clearly shown in Fig. 1,'drum 24 isof a size to extend above the topof body It! and the periphery of this drum carries a plurality ofspaced, substantially cylindrical, flexible fingers 30. As shown in Fig.2, these fingers are arranged completely around the drum in a pluralityof spaced rows and each row is staggered with respect to the next row.

Each finger 30 preferably is formed of rubber or other suitable flexibleand elastic material and, as shown in Fig. 3, is of such length thatabout two-thirds thereof extends from the drum 24 at an angle thatinclines slightly toward the front of the apparatus as viewed in Fig. 1.The

angle of inclination of each finger is about 14 when measured withrespect to a finger which would be truly radial from the axis of shaft22. This angle of inclination may be determined as follows:

With a drum having an outside diameter of about 16 /2", a circle similarto the dash circle 3| in Fig. 1, of about 4" in diameter, is drawnaround the axis of shaft 22. The longitudinal axis of each finger isthen made tangent to this circle 3|, and the resulting angle of thefingers has been found to be very satisfactory in use and much moreadvantageous than radial fingers.

Each finger 30 has on its inner end a tapered portion 32 of increaseddiameter, and spaced therefrom is another portion 33 of increaseddiameter. For reoeivingthe fingers, the rim 34 of the drum is providedwith suitable openings 38 extending clear through the rim portion, andeach opening II has a portion 88 of increased size complementary toportion 33 of the finger inserted therein. As clearly shown in Fig. 3,the enlarged portionJl on each finger is larger than the adjacentportion of opening I5, whereby when a finger is properly in place in therim the enlarged portion 32 will prevent it from being pulled out of thedrum. Similarly, no finger can be forced inwardly beyond the shoulder llformed in opening I! which receives the inner end of finger portion It.Since these fingers are formed of rubber or other-suitable flexiblematerial they can, with the assistance of thetaper on portions 32, bequickly and easily forced through openings 3! to the position shown, andthey cannot be accidentally displaced'or removed during the ordinaryoperation of the machine. If it should become necessary to remove any ofthe fingers for replacement, etc., it is possible to remove same byexerting a substantial pulling force thereon, as the flexible materialwill yield to such a force. However, in the normal operation of theapparatus the manner of securing the fingers to the drum has been foundto be very emcient and to permit the operator to take full advantage ofthe bending characteristic of the fingers without pulling the latter outof the drum.

Throughout the greater portion of its length, each finger lll isprovided with a plurality of relatively closely spaced corrugations orprojections 38. In the embodiment shown these projections are indicatedas screw threads, but they obviously may be made in other than spiralform if desired, as long as they are spaced relativeLv close together soas to permit a number of them to come in contact with a fowl when theyare bent forwardly as shown in Fig. 1. At its outer end, each finger isprovided with an annular fian e 39 of larger size than the projections38, whereby this fiange will become an outstanding projection to engageand strip feathers from a fowl when the fingers are bent forwardly as inFig. 1. As will benoted from Fig. 1, these fingers, while they may bebent, they may not be collapsed in a direction parallel to thelongitudinal axis, and thus they always maintain sufficient stability toproperly remove the feathers.

It has been found that fingers formed with projections 38 only willremove feathers satisfactorily, but the removal operation is speeded upconsiderably by having at least one projec-' 'tion on the outer end ofthe finger of larger size than the others, since this projection morereadily enters small indentations, such as are" found on the inside ofthe wings and other places. Also, it has been found that a solid fingerof the kind described will remove feathers satisfactorily, but theoperation is further speeded up if a tapered bore 40 is formed in eachfinger, with the taper decreasing inwardly as shown in Fig. 3.

On each side of drum 24, two partially circular hollow shields II aresecured as at 42 to the body portion II and are arranged to extendslightly below the outer ends of the fingers it as they rotate with thedrum. One of these shields 40 receives a portion of pulley 26 andencloses same as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, the operating parts of theapparatus are fully enclosed with a plurality of fingers extending abovethe upper surface of the body l0, whereby a fowl 43 may readily beplaced against the fingers as in Fig. 1.

In operation, the motor I1 is started to rotate the fingers 30 in acounter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. i. Since the angle of thefingers is opposite to the direction of rotation, the fingers arereadily bent and the speed of rotation is such that some of theprojections 38 and 39 are continuously in engagement with the feathersof the fowl and quickly remove these feathers without tearing orotherwise injuring the skin of the fowl. By providing fingers which arehollow at their outer ends, when these fingers are bent, they flattenout somewhat and present a greater area on each projection for contactwith the feathers.

Obviously, a fowl can be pressed against the rotating fingers withvarious degrees of pressure, since the fingers are formed of materialwhich will readily yield to permit bending. In the case of a fowl havingfeathers which are not difficult to remove, the pressure with which suchfowl is pressed against the fingers need not be very great, it beingsufilcient to bring only a few of the projections into engagement withthe feathers. However, with a fowl having feathers which are difficultto remove, the pressure of such fowl against the fingers can beincreased and the fingers bent to bring more of the projections intocontact with the feathers. An operator can readily tell by the amount offeathers being removed whether or not he is pressing the fowl againstthe fingers with sufficient pressure to properly remove the feathers,and he can vary this pressure as desired. In actual practice a chickenwhich had been previously scalded had all of its feathers completelyremoved in eight seconds with my apparatus, and frequently as many astwo hundred chickens per hour have had all of their feathers completelyremoved with this apparatus.

It will be observed from the showing in Fig. 1 of the fowl in engagementwith the fingers that applicant has also invented a novel method ofplucking feathers which teaches that when a fowl is held in positionagainst the fingers and the drum rotated, the fingers 30 willcontinuously apply to the underside of the fowl, repeated applicationsof force in an arcuate direction to the feathered portion of the fowl,and substantially simultaneously these fingers will strike and rub saidfeathered portion, with the initial striking force taking placeradiallya distance outwardly from the application of the rubbing force.

While I have shown the preferred type of finger for use with myapparatus, it will be understood that other types of fingers may also beused satisfactorily as long as they have a plurality of relativelyclosely spaced corrugations or projections thereon which can besuccessively brought into engagement with the feathers of a fowl.

Although I have illustrated and described the preferred form of myinvention, it will be obvious that various changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope ofthe subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A feather plucking device comprising a rotatable member havingsecured thereto means projecting from the outer surface thereof, saidmeans being substantially cylindrical in shape, of elastic material, andhaving projections on the surface thereof, a portion of said meansthroughout its length bein hollow.

2. A feather plucking device comprising a rotatable member havingsecured thereto means projecting from the outer surface thereof, saidmeans being substantially cylindrical in shape, of elastic material-,andhaving projections on the surface thereof, a portion of said meansadjacent one end thereof being hollow.

3. A feather plucking device comprising a rotatable member havingsecured thereto means projecting from the outer surface thereof, saidmeans being substantially cylindrical in shape, of elastic material, andhaving projections on the surface thereof, a portion of said meanshaving a thin wall and the remainder thereof having thicker wallportions.

4. A feather plucking device comprising a rotatable member havingsecured thereto means projecting from the outer surface thereof, saidmeans being substantially cylindrical in shape, of elastic material, andhaving projections on the surface thereof, a portion of said meansthroughout its length being hollow, the hollow formation being oftapering shape with the larger portion of the taper at the free end ofthe means.

5. A feather plucking device comprising a rotatable member havingsecured thereto a finger projecting from the outer surface thereof, saidfinger comprising a body non-rectangular in shape and cross-sectiontransversely, formed of elastic material and having projections on theouter surface thereof, a portion of said body throughout its lengthbeing hollow.

6. Apparatus for removing feathers from fowls comprising a rotatablemember and a plurality of spaced flexible fingers extending outwardlyfrom said member, each finger being provided with a plurality ofrelatively closely spaced projections arranged so that upon bending ofeach finger such projections successively engage the feathers of a fowlpressed thereagainst, each finger being provided with a longitudinalbore tapering inwardly from the outer end of each finger.

7. Apparatus for removing feathers from fowls comprising a rotatablemember and a plurality of spaced flexible fingers extending outwardlyfrom said member, each finger being provided with a plurality ofrelatively closely spaced projections arranged so that upon bending ofeach finger such projections successively engage the feathers of a fowlpressed thereagainst, each finger being annular in cross-section andhaving said projections arranged completely therearound.

8. Apparatus for removing feathers from fowls comprising an annularrotatable member and a plurality of spaced transverse rows of flexiblefingers extending outwardly from said member, a plurality of saidfingers being in each row, each finger being provided with a pluralityof spaced projections arranged on the side thereof so that upon bendingof each finger such projections successively engage the feathers of afowl pressed thereagainst, each finger extending non-radially withrespect to the rotatable member.

9. Apparatus for removing feathers from fowls comprising an annularrotatable member and a plurality of spaced transverse rows of flexiblefingers extending outwardly from said member, a plurality of saidfingers being in each row, each finger being provided with a pluralityof spaced projections arranged on the side thereof so that upon bendingof each finger such pro-- jections successively engage the feathers of afowl pressed thereagainst, the projections on each finger beingin theform of screw threads.

10. Apparatus for removing feathers from fowls comprising an annularrotatable member and a plurality of spaced transverse rows of fiexibleringers extending outwardly from said member, a plurality of saidfingers being in each row, each finger being provided with a pluralityof spaced pro ections arranged on the side thereof so that upon bendingof each finger such projections successively engage the feathers of afowl pressed thereagainst, each finger being provided with alongitudinal bore extending at least partially inwardly from the outerend of the finger.

11. A poultry plucking finger member of the character describedcomprising an elongated flexible body portion and a plurality ofrelatively closely spaced projections arranged so thatupon bending ofthe finger such projections successively engage the feathers of a fowlpressed thereagainst, and being provided with a longitudinal boreextending at least partially inwardly from the open outer end of thefinger.

12. A poultry plucking finger member of the character describedcomprising a substantially cylindrical body formed of elastic materialand having projections on the outer surface thereof, a portion of saidbody throughout its length being hollow, the walls of the body beingsufliciently thick to avoid collapse in a direction parallel to thelongitudinal axis when the finger is in use.

13. A poultry plucking finger member of the character describedcomprising a substantially cylindrical body formed of elastic materialand having projections on the outer surface thereof, a portion of saidbody adjacent one end thereof being hollow, the walls of the body beingsufliciently thick to avoid collapse in a direction par allel to thelongitudinal axis when the finger is in use.

14. A poultry plucking finger member of the character describedcomprising a substantially cylindrical body formed of elastic materialand having projections on the outer surface thereof, a portion of saidbody having a thin wall and the remainder thereof having thicker wallportions, the walls of the body being sufliciently thick to avoidcollapse in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis when thefinger is in use.

15. A poultry plucking finger member comprising a body non-rectangularin shape and crosssection transversely, formed of elastic material andhaving projections on the outer surface thereof, a portion of said bodythroughout its length being hollow, the walls of the body beingsufficiently thick to avoid collapse in a direction parallel to thelongitudinal axis when the finger is in use.

16. A method of plucking feathers from fowls comprising holding a fowlin position while continuously applying directly to only one side of thebody thereof repeated applications of force in an arcuate direction andalso to the feathered portion thereof while substantially simultaneouslystriking and rubbing said side and said feathered portion, the initialstriking force taking place radially a distance outwardly-from theapplication of the rubbing force and. in substantially the same plane asthe rubbing force, the opposite side of the fowl being freely exposed soas to facilitate ready handling by the operator, said rubbing forcesbeing the main forces utilized in the removal of feathers.

17. A poultry plucking machine comprising a rotatable drum and aplurality of flexible studs projecting outwardly from the drum, eachstud having a plurality of projections on the face thereof, the outerend of each stud being recessed to provide edges thereon in spacedrelation in the plane of the edges.

18. A poultry plucking machine comprising a rotatable drum and aplurality of flexible studs projecting outwardly from the drum, eachstud 10 having projections on one wall thereof and the free end of eachstud having inner wall portions in spaced relation.

19. A plucking finger for a rotary drum of a plucking machine comprisinga member greater in length than width with a plurality of projections onthe outer surface of the portion of greaterlength, the outer surface ofthe free end thereof being recessed to provide spaced surfaces.

GEORGE R. HUNT.

DISCLAIMER 2,300,157 .-George R. Hunt, Akron, Ohio. FEATHER-PICKING Armmrus FOB FowLs AND THE LIKE. Patent dated Oct. 27, 1942. Disclaimer filedFeb. 26, 1947, by the inventor; the licensee, Conrad B. Mueller,assenting. Hereby disclaims claim 16 of said patent. [Oflicial GazetteMarch 25, 1947.]

